A programme manager asks the Scrum Master to restructure the team's Sprint Backlog board to match the corporate reporting format, and to freeze it after Sprint Planning so that the weekly report is comparable Sprint to Sprint. What should the Scrum Master explain?
Professional Scrum Master I, objective 1. Understanding and applying the Scrum framework medium
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The options
Correct The Sprint Backlog is a plan by and for the Developers, updated throughout the Sprint as more is learned — freezing it would destroy what the artifact is for
Correct. Its value is that it is a real-time picture the Developers can inspect their progress against each day. A frozen board reports on a plan that stopped being true on day two.
Not correct The Sprint Backlog belongs to the Product Owner, so the request should be put to them
Wrong. The Product Backlog is the Product Owner's; the Sprint Backlog is the Developers'. Sending the request to the wrong owner does not make it a reasonable request.
Not correct The board may be frozen for reporting as long as the Developers keep a working copy of the real plan elsewhere
Wrong. Two versions of one artifact is the definition of low transparency, and the version the organisation reads would be the one that is not true.
Not correct The Sprint Backlog may only be changed at the Daily Scrum, so a weekly freeze changes very little
Wrong. The Daily Scrum is where the plan is inspected and adapted as a matter of cadence, but the Developers often meet through the day to re-plan the rest of the Sprint's work.
Why
The Sprint Backlog is a highly visible, real-time picture of what the Developers plan to do during the Sprint in order to achieve the Sprint Goal, with enough detail that they can inspect their progress at the Daily Scrum. Everything about that description assumes it changes. The organisational need behind a request like this is usually predictability, and Scrum answers that with a Done Increment every Sprint rather than with a stable-looking board.
Where this comes from
- Cited
- Scrum Guide section Sprint Backlog
- What it says
- The Sprint Backlog is a plan by and for the Developers.
Practise this
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Practise Professional Scrum Master I
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